We are public health advocates, and we need your help to avoid an HIV outbreak.
Kim started handing out clean needles to people on the streets of Berkeley 10 years before it was legal, because it was the right thing to do to keep HIV from spreading. Jennifer started her career treating patients who were unstably housed and struggling with addiction because those were the people who needed care the most.
We have struggled with HIV for decades, and we thought we were on the path to ending the epidemic.
Outside In and Multnomah County ran some of the first syringe exchanges in the nation. Local leaders knew it was a fundamental part of stopping the spread of infections among people addicted to drugs. We leaned on strong community advocates like the Cascade AIDS Project to prevent transmission and to support people living with HIV. Medicine for HIV improved so that a person receiving treatment could avoid passing the virus to someone else. Then came a medicine called PrEP that people without the virus could take to keep from getting infected through risky sex or drug use.
FURTHER READING: 25 years of Outside In’s needle exchange program (December 2014)
And our collective efforts paid off.
We watched, with cautious optimism, as the HIV infection rate in Multnomah County dropped year after year. Today, HIV is a chronic disease. If someone with HIV receives successful treatment, they can live a long and healthy life – and they can’t transmit HIV to anyone else.
Yet Multnomah County and the Oregon Health Authority are now working to stop an increase in HIV infections among people who use methamphetamines or inject drugs, and their intimate partners. Many of these people are experiencing homelessness. They also risk contracting other serious infections like syphilis, Shigella and hepatitis A that can spread through sex, close contact and lack of regular access to running water.
We are watching the HIV numbers rise, and it’s really alarming because there are people living with HIV and they don’t know it. These are people who deserve treatment, and their friends and companions deserve protection. Sharing a syringe is the easiest way to transmit HIV, but we don’t know if all the transmissions are from sharing syringes. Some people who use methamphetamines and inject drugs also are part of diverse sexual networks through which the virus could easily spread.
In response, we are working with community partners to boost testing for HIV and link more infected people with medical care in the hopes of avoiding a full-blown outbreak. We are sending outreach teams to local camps to offer free HIV and STD testing. We’re urging broader promotion of the HIV prevention drug PrEP for people who inject drugs.
We have alerted health care providers across the state and urged them to test those at high risk. And our staff are ready to help locate people who test positive and get them into care.
Now here’s what we need from you: We ask anyone who might be at risk to get tested for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Go to the Street Roots office to pick up a coupon for free HIV testing at the Multnomah County STD Clinic or click here to print your own.
For those who know someone who may be at risk, offer information about local clinics that offer HIV and STI testing.
People who inject drugs can get free syringes, other sterile products and safer-sex supplies through area syringe exchanges and harm reduction clinics. Find a full list of clinics and syringe exchanges on our HIV response page.
There are many options for treatment and prevention that are voluntary, confidential and available regardless of someone’s ability to pay.
It could be months before we know if our efforts have reached the right people and how many new HIV cases there are in the county. In the meantime, we ask everyone in the Street Roots community to help get the word out about free HIV testing, free syringes, free safer-sex supplies and good quality health care.
We have worked for decades to stop the spread of HIV. Today we have the science, the treatment and the community support to end the epidemic. Join us.
Kim Toevs is director of Communicable Disease and Sexual Health Services at Multnomah County. She has worked in HIV prevention and health care since 1991. Dr. Jennifer Vines is a family doctor and the deputy health officer for Multnomah County.